


It's Not A Side Effect Of The Hormones

by slrandomperson



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Ficlet, I'm Sorry, M/M, Please Don't Hate Me, Sad Ending, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-19 23:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14248332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slrandomperson/pseuds/slrandomperson
Summary: AU: Hormones have been pumped into Patrick's bloodstream since he was thirteen, just like everyone else. He has awaited the day that the liquid would run out and he would meet his soulmate.But what happens when you don't want your soulmate?





	It's Not A Side Effect Of The Hormones

**Author's Note:**

> This is a ficlet; sorry it's so short. I just had this little idea a few hours ago and I really wanted to write it down.
> 
> Enjoy <3
> 
> ⚠️: Angsty

Patrick gasped as the IV hit a bump in the sidewalk and nearly fell over. He spun around to grab it by the shaft before it could fall, just as he had done so many times, breathing a sigh of relief as he set it upright. A few people gave him weird looks as they passed, most of them young and tugging their own IVs along without issues. All he wanted to do was take a walk down the streets of Chicago, and this was how the Universe repaid him?

Whatever, it didn't matter, because the bag on Patrick's IV was running dangerously low as the bright red liquid approached the bottom where the bag connected to the tube. Patrick traced his fingers over the needle stabbing into his skin, just like he had ever since his thirteenth birthday three years ago. Some would say that it was taboo to meet your soulmate at sixteen like Patrick as about to, but he knew kids whose bags barely lasted a day because they already knew their soulmate. It was uncommon but not impossible.

Patrick's heart thumped as he made his way down the street, imagining the girl he was about to bump into or lock eyes with or something, but his mind just couldn't form the face of any girl at all, really. He was extremely thirsty from all that walking he had done, so he decided to stop in the little cafe he saw on the corner.

"Heya, I'm Mark," said the guy at the counter. "What can I get for ya' today?"

"Just a water, please, thank you," Patrick said worriedly. He didn't want to miss his soulmate, although that was technically impossible. His bag was about to run out, so he had to meet her in a few minutes. He was going to; it was just fact. Law of nature.

Mark smiled and grabbed a water bottle from the back. "Waiting for someone?" he asked, nodding to Patrick's IV as the kid threw a ten dollar bill at him.

"Yeah. Keep the change. Thank you." Patrick rushed to the door, water bottle in hand. He popped the cap open and was about to take a drink when someone flung the door open and ran right into Patrick, causing him to drop the water bottle. Water sprayed out everywhere, and then it was just leaking slowly onto the ground.

Groaning, Patrick turned to face the man that had run into him. He didn't have an IV and wasn't much taller than Patrick, which was funny because he looked to be a few years older and too intimidating to be so short. His jet black hair was in his eyes a little and his tan skin was heavily tattooed. "Oh God, I'm so sorry, I'll go get some paper towels."

"Yeah, you should really watch—"

Beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.

Everyone in the cafe went silent. Patrick's hand shakily pulled the little beeping monitor out of his pocket, staring at the tiny screen and then at his empty IV bag and then back up at the adult in front of him. The guy was staring back at him with wide eyes.

People started to clap and cheer, albeit a little reluctantly because of the clear age gap, the fact that they were both dudes, and the very pressing matter of the missing IV.

The man looked around and pulled Patrick out onto the street, yanking him into an alley and letting the IV fall and drag on the ground. Patrick yelped as the needle was yanked a bit when the machine caught on the brick wall.

"What the fuck kind of joke is this?" Patrick asked, tears on the rims of his eyelids.

The man just kind of stared at him and bit his lip like he was contemplating something.

"Who are you?" Patrick tried, more quietly this time as he choked down his tears.

"My name's Pete," the man said quietly.

"Patrick. Why don't you have an IV?"

Pete stared at the ground. "I ripped it out when I was fifteen."

Patrick's brows furrowed. "You can...You can do that?"

For the first time throughout this whole mess, Pete smiled a little. "Yeah. How do you think people with soulmates get rid of them?"

"I don't know, I just. Oh," Patrick said dumbly, and Pete stepped closer.

Smiling a little nervously, Pete took Patrick's arm in his hand. "You mind if I...?"

"Go ahead." He squeezed his eyes shut as Pete held the needle between his fingers and delicately pulled it out. Patrick barely felt a thing.

When Pete threw the IV in the dumpster, Patrick cleared his throat. "So, uh...Why'd you take yours out?"

"Well," Pete said, scratching the back of his neck, "it was embarrassing."

"Why?"

"Because, well, um..." Pete laughed awkwardly. "I thought I didn't have a soulmate. My bag wasn't running out. It just stayed full for two years."

Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Wait...What? Does that mean we aren't—"

Pete's ringtone was loud and echoed in the alley. It was Toxic by Britney Spears. Patrick held back a laugh as Pete aggressively tapped the screen to accept the call and help it up to his ear. "Hey, mom. I'm kind of in the middle—" He stopped suddenly, face growing paler by the second. "It what? Wait, so—yeah, okay, I'll be right there."

"What happened?" Patrick asked when Pete hung up.

To Patrick's surprise, his face broke out into a smile. "My mom, she has my IV. She said...She said that it burst. And there's red all over my old room, and I have to get to my parent's house to clean it up."

"Shit, I don't...I don't know what that means."

"It means," Pete said, stepping closer. "That even though mine was defective, it ran out when it was supposed to. I have a soulmate. Patrick, you're my soulmate."

The words made Patrick want to shrink up like a raisin. "But you, we're, that's not—"

"Patrick, I don't care that we're both guys or that I'm obviously older than you. We're soulmates. We're meant to be."

Blinking, Patrick stepped back. "I don't...I don't know you. I'm sixteen, Pete."

Pete's smile fell. "Patrick, that's...I don't care, okay? I've spent my whole life thinking I don't have a soulmate, but you're here now. Are you just going to leave me? Just like that?"

"I can't do this, okay? This wasn't how I hoped it would be. There's no way that we, that I, that you..." Patrick rubbed his arm and took off, tears falling on the pavement. He heard Pete call after him, but he didn't look back.

≁≁≁

_"Parscientists have discovered a new anomaly amongst citizens with parchines, referred to as phenylethylaminic-freeze, or phen-freeze. This anomaly occurs when a parchine's bag does not release any of its fluid, and upon the matching of soulmates it swells and bursts. No official cause has been determined, but theories have been presented based on the accounts of those affected._

_"Pete Wentz, twenty-two, was one unlucky victim of phen-freeze last year. In an interview with_ Chicago Tribune, _Wentz said that it felt like his 'heart was so thirsty for so long, and when it finally got a drop of water, it was ripped away.' Wentz's soulmate was sixteen when they met. Upon seeing that Wentz was five years older, he refused to accept his soulmate and was not seen by Wentz again._

_"[...]_

_"Parscientists have posted an official statement on the_ NPA (National Parscience Administration) _website. Citizens of the United States have been advised to accept the laws of nature and go pro-soulmate. The debate still rages on._

_"Gabe Saporta,_ Chicago Tribune. _"_

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really really sorry about the ending. I had to write something angsty ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> Check out my other fic, Pull Back The Curtain, if you want longer and fluffier Peterick. Thanks <3


End file.
